376 



Bulletin 83 



ciously with the beak, especially if an incautious attempt be made 

 to pick the intruder off with the fingers. A sudden snap of the, 

 finger is the safest means of getting rid of one of these unwelcome 

 bugs. While there are doubtless several kinds of this group native 

 to the Southwest, of which probably Arizona has its full share, the 

 writer of this bulletin has had no personal reports of injury, and 

 only a single unlabelled specimen is at present in the University 

 collections. At this juncture we will depend for local information 

 upon Dr. A. W. Morrill, State Entomologist. In a paper published 

 in the Arizona Medical Journal, January, 1914, he says : 



"In many parts of the Southwest there is a large relative of the 

 bedbug, known as the blood-sucking conenose, belonging to the 

 genus Conorhinus, which is quite troublesome as a household pest. 

 Other common names for this insect are "Arizona bedbug," "bel- 

 lows bug," and "Arizona tiger." This is one of the species which 

 contributed to the kissing bug scare of 1899, which 'encouraged by 

 the newspapers,' says one entomological writer, 'resulted in one of 

 the most interesting cases of widespread popular alarm arising 

 from a comparatively insignificant cause, which has occurred in the 

 present scientific and matter-of-fact century.' It is a fact, neverthe- 

 less, that there is considerable evidence that the Arizona blood- 

 sucking insect above named transmits pathogenic (disease pro- 

 ducing) organisms. The sting of this bug frequently produces red 

 blotches on the body, as reported by one of my correspondents, 

 and in one case reported from Arizona several years ago the effect 

 of a single sting is said to have produced 'red blotches and welts 

 all over the body and limbs.' " 



Dr. Morrill further informs me by letter that the localities from 

 which he has had such reports of injury are Fort Apache, Cotton- 

 wood, and a ranger station about twenty- 

 five miles north of Clifton. 



A figure (Fig. 2) of any one of these 

 showing the general charactersitics of 

 elongated body, and slender, cone-shaped 

 head (cone-nose) with strong beak be- 

 neath, and protruding, rather fierce look- 

 ing eyes, will enable one to be on guard. 

 These insects really neither bite nor 

 sting, but pierce. That is, the wound is 

 made with beak-like mouth parts which 

 cannot bite by pinching, but wdiich pene- 

 trate the .'^kin in the manner of a sting, Fig. 2.— ■cone- nose uiood .sucker" 



1-1 ^1 <(i •■ )j / • • „\ r .^^^^..lir^ or Arizona bed-bug (Conorhinus 



like the bite (piercing) of a mosquito. ^^^^^^^^.^^^^^^^^ enlarged a b o u t 



A poisonous saliva is injected into the twice. (From insect Life.) 



